The No Proscenium Podcast

This week on the show: a kind of psychological sequel to last week’s episode on physical safety. We have sex-positive psych Dr. Liz Powell -- a licensed therapist and coach who specializes in LGBTQ/Poly/Kink-Friendly therapy joining us to talk about the mental side of safety and emotional risk. Plus Elan Lee -- co-creator of Exploding Kittens and former Chief Design Officer at Xbox joins us to talk about his passion for escape rooms. Head's up: strong language and frank discussion throughout! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Immersive productions can be challenging, both physically and mentally for creators and audiences alike. Even when they are challenging, there is a reasonable expectation that they are safe. That every effort has been made to make sure that even experiences that seem dangerous are, in fact, not dangerous. That the risks that are being taken by audience and performers are the agreed upon ones -- not one of shoddy construction and poor design. What sort of mindset should creators have when taking safety into consideration? What should audience members accept when it comes to safety issues? These are the questions we get into with our expert panel: from Delusion come production designer Kevin Williams and lighting designer/technical director Iam Momii. Joining them is David Ruzicka, a creative consultant who is part of the Creep team and who works in the theme park industry. Plus: Charlie Melcher, founder of The Future of Storytelling, joins us for the "A" segment. (Use the code NP20 for 20% of FoST Fest tickets.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two of our favorite creators in the Southland, Jeff Leinenveber and Jarrett Lantz return to talk about lessons learned from their first show: the very much beloved The Nest. Before that: Meredith Treinen talks about her upcoming debut work grief. Before that: Noah formally announces the formation of LEIA: The League of Experiential & Immersive Artists. Before that: we address the safety issues raised last weekend at one show in LA, and what we're going to be doing about it as a community. Before that: you download the podcast. PLUS: WE. HAVE. FOST. TICKETS. FOR. YOU. Listen for giveaway rules! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MINDSHOW! There is pretty much NOTHING that gets me more excited about virtual reality than Mindshow: which turns an HTC Vive into a performance capture tool, allowing users to create animated stories with digital puppets. It's like having a film FX pre-visualization tool to play with. For years now I've been anticipating Mindshow's release to the public and now, this week, it is finally HERE. You can roll onto Steam right now and get it for free. To celebrate, we've got Mindshow CEO Gil Baron on to talk about it and the philosophy behind the software. Gil is one of my favorite people to talk all things immersive with, and I've been dying to do this episode for years now. If you're in NYC in October you can check out Mindshow and meet the team at the FUTURE OF STORYTELLING FESTIVAL, who are hosting them this year. (You should go.) This is a big episode in every sense. Gil's interview starts a bit after the half-hour mark (WHAT?) because our friend Ricky Brigante of Inside The Magic stops by to talk about the jam packed summer he's had. Hey: it's a holiday weekend. Consider this two shows for the price of one. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're in the amusement industry, Kevin Williams is a name you probably know. Once upon a time he headed up the "DisneyQuest" project in Orlando for the Mouse House, and beyond that he's a consultant on numerous projects, the editorial voice of The Stinger Report and founder of The DNA: Digital Out-of-Home Interactive Entertainment Association. This year he's starting an all new conference focused on the Future of Immersive Leisure. We talked about that, his history in the amusement industry, and a whole lot more. Plus: David & Lisa of Room Escape Artist stop by to talk about the state of Escape Rooms, and I go into a little more about LEIA: the League of Experiential & Immersive Artists, which is coming together in the Southland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh, do we have a multi-layered episode for you today. First, we turn to Jacob Patterson of Think Tank Gallery, as we drop in on the night of their media preview for their next big show Drinkin', Smokin', West Coastin'. Then we unlock the No Pro time machine (Where do you think all that Patreon money goes to?) to enter the world of Nocturnal Fandango before The Sudden Loneliness Gift disrupted their dreams and plans. That's where we find Jason and Kevin Davidson, the couple at the heart of that company, weeks after Have You Seen Jake? ended, before a tragic fire--an uncanny echo of stories past--took Kevin away from Jason. All that, and Noah shares his tale of a Technodelic experience.   Wait, what? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christian Dieckmann is the Chief Strategy Officer of 3D Live, a technology studio in Los Angeles that specializes in creating "holographic" 3D. Their LED video wall has made appearances at VRLA and other gatherings, showing that there is something magical to letting those of us outside a virtual space see what happens when participants and performers are interacting with virtual worlds. Christian is going to be speaking at the Future of Immersive Leisure conference at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas this September 13th & 14th. The conference organizers were gracious enough to set us up with Christian for this interview and our audience up with a 20% discount for the conference when they use the code NOPROSCENIUM. Shouldn't be too hard to remember.   All that, plus the end of the show notes where I talk a little about In Another Room, which makes its bows this week in LA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After two years (!!) we're back with Annie Lesser for a conversation on how her work has evolved as she's become a mainstay of LA's immersive theatre scene. Plus: field reports from Noah about Midsummer Scream and a pop-up event for HBO's Big Little Lies that pulled in some of LA's best immersive actors and creators. What a week.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At this year's San Diego Comic Con the most buzzed about things weren't movies: they were immersive. Pop-up "marketing activations" for Westworld, Blade Runner 2049, and Mr. Robot drew on the talents and skills of immersive theatre makers and ARG crafters to created the biggest tentpole for immersive this side of Sleep No More. We check in with Daphne Mir and Maxwell Robison who checked out Westworld and Blade Runner 2049, respectively, to get a connoisseur eye view of these immersive gateways into some of Hollywood's biggest properties. Plus: our neighbor uses a garden hose throughout a very special announcement from Noah. Plus-plus: in LA this weekend? Swing on by MIDSUMMER SCREAM and catch our "STAGE & SCREAM" panel on Sunday. Featuring Zombie Joe, Shine On Collective, The Overlook Film Fest, and Unbound Productions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What can we say about this Open Forum edition?   Well: we crack open a can of worms and we go right in. That's what.   WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.